Theatrhythm Final Fantasy D.I.Y.

Cover Story: We build our perfect set list for Square's upcoming Final Fantasy music game.

I

t's musical, it's charming, it's kind of an RPG: Yes, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy is many things. But what it is not is a perfect collection of the best Final Fantasy music. Yeah, it features plenty of great tracks drawn from the series' quarter-century of history, all represented with tinny 8-bit samples where appropriate, and even more tunes are on the way as downloadable content. Still, it's missing some essentials. Far be it for us to act like we know the Final Fantasy music catalog better than the curators who put Theatrhythm together, but... well, we kind of do. In a perfect world, these tracks would be presented front-and-center.

How on earth does "J-E-N-O-V-A" not appear in Theatrhythm already? The best battle theme from the Internet's favorite Final Fantasy game? Seriously now. Not only does this track perfectly suit its original in-game context -- its otherworldly eeriness communicates the alien origins of recurring boss Jenova -- but the way it combines a rapid backbeat, descending scales, and drawn-out synthesizer melodies would make for a tricky and challenging Theatrhythm stage. If this doesn't show up as DLC (and sooner rather than later), we'll be forced to... to... to shake our heads and scoff disapprovingly. That'll show 'em. -- Jeremy Parish

With its driving, industrial, "We Will Rock You"-style beat, it's surprising that "Devil's Lab" didn't make it to Theatrhythm's set list. Sure, most wouldn't regard it as a highlight of Final Fantasy VI's stellar soundtrack, but for pure rhythm game action, this song feels like one of the more appropriate choices. Unlike some of the sweeping, grand, and emotional songs of FFVI, this one completely devotes itself to rocking out with a very catchy beat. -- Bob Mackey

In looking for suggestions to add to Theatrhythm track list, its hard to resist making a case for the battle theme of Final Fantasy VIII, "Don't Be Afraid." This powerful arrangement of different instruments presents a bold style of music that feels grandiose and epic all at once. There's an amazing amount of depth here considering this is a simple battle tune players would hear often, and its multi-layered instrumentation would provide a strong addition to Theatrhythm's excellent soundtrack. -- Jose Otero

I feel no shame in declaring my absolute love for the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack. While some elements of the title have certainly not aged well, the music remains amazingly listenable after 15 years. Theatrhythm chose many of the game's finest tracks, but one omission is the dense and ominous "Forested Temple." Disregard the theme's placement as the lead up to the series' most iconic moment, Uematsu's track is a complex arrangement of strings, woodwinds, and percussion that weave together to form an eerily mesmerizing tune. The simple guitar loop that acts as the song's backbone would lend a perfect base to a Theatrhythm level, which the rest of the denser instrumentals would combine to create quite the challenging trick. -- Marty Sliva

I could probably pen an entire op-ed about how ridiculous Final Fantasy Tactics' omission from Theatrhythm was, and it would be one of the most righteous and correct editorials ever to grace the Internet. But I will settle simply for saying, "Well, that sure was dumb, because Tactics' soundtrack is a thing a of glory." And Antidote is easily my favorite track from the entire game, creating a soothing atmosphere as a backdrop to the games' intense-yet-deliberately-paced battles set in the unique battlefield of a snowy mine. -- Jeremy Parish

This one may be a bit of a cheat considering that the original version of this theme from FFV is included in Theatrhythm, but XII's amazing take on the arrangement is too good to not be a part of the game. Final Fantasy vets are no strangers to the sight of Gilgamesh, but none of his appearances were accompanied by a track quite as raucous as "Clash on the Big Bridge." The relatively calm opening quickly gives way to a maddening blend of horns that accompany the fragile mental state of Gilgamesh himself. The wandering collector appears in FFXII as an Elite Mark, and "Clash on the Big Bridge" delivers the intensity and complexity to compliment such a tough battle. It's hard not to tap your foot to the rhythm of the song, making it the perfect selection for TFF. -- Marty Sliva

A quirky yet charming tune heard during Cloud and co.'s escape from the evil Shinra Corporation, Crazy Motorcycle would make a fine addition to Theatrhythm. Not only would this pulse-pounding track present a wild array of musical styles to the player, but including this track could also offer respite from Theatrhythm's RPG-styled aesthetics. The developers at Square-Enix could use this opportunity to present players with a harrowing chase scene that captures Final Fantasy's vast history of PlayStation era mini-games. -- Jose Otero

Out of all the songs on Final Fantasy IX underrated (and understated) soundtrack, Vamo' Alla Flemenco stands out as one of the stranger selections -- but in a good way. Final Fantasy soundtracks suffered from diminishing returns throughout the PSX era, as Square forced poor, overworked Nobuo Uematsu to pump out bigger and bigger soundtracks, all by his lonesome (IX's weighs in at a whopping 110 tracks). But Vamo' Alla Flemenco stood out as one of the strongest tracks, and its spicy Spanish flair would certainly add some variation to the predictable (but still amazing) selections of Theatrhythm. -- Bob Mackey

Yeah, yeah, Mystic Quest was a lame baby game created by developers who thought Americans were too stupid to handle the nuances of real RPGs even though the the genre got its start in North America. Put that complaint aside for a moment and recognize what's really important here: Mystic Quest had completely bad ass music. Those sweet sampled metal guitar licks were enough to keep many of us slogging through the mediocrity. Now imagine if these tunes appeared in a good game, like Theatrhythm! Honestly, they could have just built Theatrhythm around Mystic Quest's music and the result would be better than either... which is not to say Theatrhythm is bad as it is. Mystic Quest's soundtrack was just that awesome.

Jenova is in the game.

Final Fantasy IX's massive soundtrack

Don't forget that not only did the "official" soundtrack for Final Fantasy IX have 110 tracks, they had to put out an extra CD (Soundtrack Plus) that had all the CG music that they edited off the OST. Which means that Uematsu ended up writing 5 CDs worth of music for the game, which I'm sure is a volume of output that he will not do again in his career. I agree, he was probably exhausted, which is why they brought in Hamauzu and Nakano to do part of the music for FFX.

Did you play this game longer than like hour?

Owning this game now I've realized that you didn't delve that far into this game. JENOVA and Dancing Mad are both in this game. How far did you get into this game before posting this article about it? And no, neither of those songs are DLC. They come in the game already.

FFXIII: Since it will be hard to make any of these 8bits, i say FINAL FANTASY XIII Chikai.

FFXIV: The Prelude,"Final Fantasy 14 - 049 - Track 49".

I havent found anyothers that may be reduced to 8 bits, but i've got some other musics that i like. I'm sure some of these can be changed to 8 bits and be played nicely tho. All these musics are kinda cool to me, i'm sorry for those that may not like my preferences, and if these cant be turned to 8bits i'm sorry for wasting time.

Choco Samba!

I love anything with the Chocobo theme to it, so no matter which gets included, it will make me happy. Jenova was a great song, I hope it is DL content at same point, as well as many of these other songs (that I had to play at least for 30 seconds to reminese on many of them, ahh the memories).

I will make one comment, and though I loved many FF titles over the years, what about the score in FFX where you were in the snow forrest heading to Malcalania temple? That was beautiful as well. I hope it is included as well (unless it is and I missed the boat on that one).

I hope that Squarenix will do this game good and easily double the tracks (DL and in-game) over the year. I know I will play the heck out of this game.